Valves actuated by turning a handwheel connected to the valve stem are widely used in industrial and utility applications. In such applications, the valve is typically exposed to environments which promote corrosion of the valve mechanism, and particularly the valve stem. Corrosion of the valve stem makes the valve difficult to open, which often results in the valve being only partly opened, which impairs its function and can shorten its useful life.
Regular valve maintenance usually involves a procedure known as “exercising” or “working” the valve, in which the valve handwheel is turned a number of times—depending on the size of the valve—to open it. After a lubricant has been applied to the fully-exposed valve stem, the valve handwheel is then turned the same number of times in the opposite direction to close it. For heavily corroded valves, this procedure can be very difficult, if not impossible, to perform manually.
The present invention addresses this problem by providing a portable device for operatively coupling a source of rotary torque to the rim of a valve handwheel, so as to turn the handwheel and thereby actuate the valve.